The best one is General Mobile DSTL1 (AKA SciPhone N21). It's the best one, since it is the only one.

I don't know of any other dual-sim Android phone.

I own the DSTL1. The battery life is about 3 days of standby. The dual-sim option works flawlessly.

Unfortunately the screen resolution is quite low and some applications won't run on it. There is no GPS and no 3D acceleration. H.264 videos (for example YouTube) don't play, but it should be fixed with a new ROM release. Also originally the phone doesn't come with Android Market, but there is an unofficial hack which allows you to use Market and install applications from it.

Unfortunately my DSTL1's touch screen stopped working 1 month after warranty expiration. So the phone is unusable :-(. I got a Gigabyte GSmart S1205 to replace it. It has WM 6.5 which is a really bad OS compared to Android. I wouldn't suggest you to get it.

The DSTL1 has some drawbacks like missing GPS, low RAM and mainly old Android version (1.6). Some developers are trying to port 2.1 to it, but it isn't done yet a nobody can promise that it will ever be finished. Unfortunately the DSTL1 is still the only dual SIM (2x GSM) Android smartphone on the market.

A new model from the same developer (Yuhua) should be available soon. It has some good specifications (GPS, 3G, capacitive touchscreen), but it is quite a big 4.3" clamshell MID.

So the situation hasn't improved much during last 4 months. There are some HTC clones which claim to support WM 6.5, Android and dual sim. But AFAIK the dual-sim functionality is not supported in Android ROM. I also heard about a phone from India - Lemon P1. But I haven't seen it selling anywhere. So the DSTL1 is still the only choice....

There are many different reasons. In my case I use it mainly to save money. Mobile operators have usually very cheap calls inside their own net but it is very expensive if you call to other operator. But there are also many other reasons why people want dual-sim.

1) You can have a company phone number and your private in one phone.
2) If you travel a lot between 2 countries, you can have different sim cards for each of the country (saves you a lot of money).
3) You can have internet service on one of the card and use the other one for calls.
4) You can have a secret number that only a few people know and you can temporary disconnect the other card if you don't want to be disturbed.
5) No operator has 100% land coverage, with 2 sim cards you can reach at least one of the networks almost everywhere.

There are many other reasons why it is better to have 2 sim cards. But I believe these are the most common.

Thanks for the link Harry, was unaware that existed.
However, I second jech search for a real android dual sim phone.
From the reviews I've read, that function works great on the DSTL1 (whish I could say the same about it as an android experience), shouldn't be hard at all for one of the big manufacturers to have it too.

Currently, I've 2 phones from 2 different operator's so I can call cheaply to the same network,.
I wouldn't mind buying a higher end mobile which I could use with both SIMs,
this way I'd have a great phone in which to centralize all my calendars, etc,
instead of splitting the 2 SIMs into a nice phone and a cheaper one.

But with this adapter you have to switch the SIM cards. Only one card is active at the same time. With real dual sim phones both cards are active simultaneously.

Click to expand...

The issue that you are going to run into is that Android OS currently doesn't support this feature (not sure about 2.3). That being the case, the phone simply doesn't exist and most likely will not exist unless they add this to the OS.

The official Android version doesn't support dual-sim, but since the OS is opensource, it is possible to add this feature by phone developer. I bought the DSTL1 with dual-sim and dual stand-by more then one year ago. For example Motorola has dual-sim Android phones too.

Hi, Ive been following this thread for quite sometime... I live in Hong Kong, adn this is one city / area of the world where everyone definately needs more than one SIM card, becuase living in HK can easily mean living in 3-4 other countries. I for myself, am travelling between Hong Kong (+852), Macau (+853), China (+86), Taiwan (+886) and Thailand (+66).

I constantly carry 2 phones on me. One is a blackberry and is my main line in HK - however the SIM card in my blackberry currently carries two numbers (a special service by telecom companies here to aid in our dynamic lifestyles called "1Card 2Numbers"); meaning one SIM card has an HK number attached to it as well as a China number. Meaning when Im in HK, my friends in China can call my China number and even when my person is in HK, I can pick up as a local call and vice versa - no long distance rate applies.

However, Im also using a lower model Samsung (D880) phone which enables dual GSM SIM card, but is not a smart phone.. I need this phone because I have another "1Card 2Numbers" SIM card, but this time, the bonding is not 'HK+China', but rather 'HK+Macau'. I then use the remaining SIM card slot for a Taiwanese SIM card that is roaming constantly while im not in Taiwan (as Taiwan doesnt have 1Card2Number SIM card services like China&HK&Macau has.

So Essentially:
I have 1 blackberry with 1 SIMcard w/2 numbers (hk/china)
I have a cheap low model D880 Samsung with the 1st SIMcards w/2 numbers (hk/Macau) and the 2nd SIMcard w/1 number (Taiwan). So Im carrying 5 numbers in total on 2 phones.

So basically the only phone I have that I can use to surf in the internet is the Blackberry..which I will never give up because of its still unrivalled keyboard, and messaging speed / email reliabilities. I am unwilling and cannot possibly carry a 3rd phone. So as much as I envy with all my heart as ppl around me are playing nonstop with their iP4s (i hate iPhones with a passion!) or androids, I am still waiting for a proper android to be released with DUAL SIM (2xGSM) to be out no matter the cost... My heart nearly stopped when my cousin busted out the new i909 Galaxy , I picked it up and was so amazed by its weight and comfort. I thought the skies have parted for me... only to realise its a Dual SIM for 1 GSM+ 1 CDMA card!
Im not sure WHY these carriers keep making DUAL SIM phones for GSM+CDMA, but Im with you guys in declaring "I desperately NEED an ANDROID dual SIM card smart phone!!"

I thought I found one in the Samsung i9000 Mini Galaxy.... but I think its a fakefrom China... Maybe u guys can tell better than I.

BUT, I think I might have found a Dual Sim (2xGSM) smart phone.... however it doesnt use android, it uses windows instead.

Yes, the Samsung i9000 Mini Galaxy is a Chinese clone. It's one of the many MTK6516 based dual sim Androids which are available now. They're not very good phones, no 3D, slow CPU, cheap HW, bad camera, low sensitive GPS etc. But it's still a usable dual sim Android 2.2. Not bad for that price, but definitely not a great phone. Btw. I got the Samsung i9000 Mini Galaxy so I know what I'm talking about.

I was also considering the Sharp SH81iUC. It looks good. But it's running Windows Mobile. I have a GSmart S1205 with WM (btw. MTK6516 chipset, same as Chinese dual sim Android HTC/Samsung/SONY clones). The HW is OK, but I can't stand the OS. Very slow in reactions, very unstable, it's difficult to find good applications and even more difficult to manage them. Once you tried Android you don't want to get back to WM.

So my advice would be to wait for the GSmart G1310. It should be available within 1 or 2 months. Also starting Feb 14th there will be Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where most manufacturers present their phones for the coming year. We might see something interesting next week....